Circuit arrangement for the drive of a clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator of a timepiece

ABSTRACT

A constant current source is utilized in the bias circuit to prevent variations in the driving impulses of an electronic timepiece resulting from battery voltage decay.

United- States Patent A Ganteret a].

[5 CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENT FOR THE DRIVE or A CLOCKWORK MECHANISM REGULATOR-OSCILLATOR or A I TIMEPlECE [75] Inventors: Wolfgang Ganter,

Schramberg-Sulgen; Friedrich Assmus, SChramberg, both of Germany 73 Assignee: Firma Gebruder Junghans G.ni.b.H., Schramberg, Germany 22 Filed: Jul 26,1972 2 1 Appl. No; 275,295

[30] 7 Foreign Application Priority Data July 28, 1971 Germany P 21 37 813.2

52 us. c1 58/23 A, 58/28 A, 33l/l86 51 Int. Cl c04 3/00, G040 3/04 58/28 A, 28 B; 307/297; 318/132; 331/109 1 11,116 M, 186, 185

.[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,351,833 11/1967 Gerum .Q 58/23 A X 3,561,208 2/ l 971 Hils 9/1970 Stampfli 58/23 A Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Edith Simmons'Jackmon A t't Jrnej/-L. Lawton Rogers, [11

: 57 ABSTRACT A'constant urrent source is utilized in the bias circuit to] prevent variations in the driving impulses of anelectronic timepieceresulting from battery voltage decay. I

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures [581' Fieldof Search 58/23 R, 23 A, 28 R,

clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator of a time-- piece, preferably awatch. The circuitincludes anIelectronic'amplifler, preferably a semiconductorfamplifier, thatis controlled by a voltage produced by the relative I cmcurr' ARRANGEMENTIFOR THE. DRIVE OF A. v

v v THE DRAWINGS I FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagrarn'of the drive of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator; of a time-keeping electric device to which the present invention is applicable;

movement between 'a. magnetic system and. a" control element and delivers current impulses acting in a driving manner 'o'n the clockwork-mechanism regulatoroscillator. These impulses flow througha driving element and a switch element is connected to the supply voltage source of the amplifier for the production of a bias voltage for application to the input circuit of the amplifier. a

.Circuit arrangements of the above-mentioned type are known where a-bias voltage is produced by circuit elements, where the bias voltage influences the amplifier input and where the switch elements are supplied by the current source supplying the amplifienThus, for example, a circuit is known in which a capacitor is lo- ,cated in series with a control coil in the input circuit on bias voltage is also influenced and the driving current decreases with the decreasingbattery voltage. The constancy of the timing impulses is thus'unfavorably'influenced. I

, An object of this invention is to providea novel circuit of the abovementioned type in which the driving current is not changed as a result of a change of the supply voltage. This. object is achieved according to the invention by the connection of the circuit elementfor the production of the bias voltage through a constant current circuit to the supply voltage.

' Another object is to provide a novel transistorized, constant current network, preferably a field effect transistor circuit.

FIG. 1; and,

FIGLZ is a schematic circuit diagram of an exemplary.

constant current circuit according to the present invention; I Y FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram ofa second embodiment of the constant current circuit of the present invention;'

FIG. 4 is an elevation of a clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator relative to the coils of the circuit of FIG. 5 is an elevation in section taken through lines V-V of FIG. 4.

THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION 1 The driving circuit shown in FIG. 1 contains a main transistor T in the base-emitter circuit of which lies a control element such as a capacitor C ins'eries with the Through theconstant current circuit of the present invention, the current producing the bias voltage is kept constant within a certain voltage range and as a result changes in the bias voltage on the basis of fluctuations of voltage of the source of the supply voltage are eliminated. Thusthe precision of a time-keeping device, e.g., an electric watch, is influenced favorably.

A capacitor connected in a known manner in series with the control element such as a control coil is preferably used as the circuit element for producing the bias voltage. At the same time, a regulator amplifier controlled in dependence on the amplitude of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator is also preferably provided to influence the bias voltage in which event an especially good constancy of the clockwork mechanism ings and in a few embodiments given byway of examillustrated coil L,- influenced bythe, clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator. The driving coil L is connected in series with a direct current source U for dc. voltage in the base-collector circuit of the transistor T The coils I. and L may be disposed in a known manner coaxially near one anotherand may also be wound concentrically relative to one another.

In order tosuppress feedback oscillators occuring in theevent of close coupling, a neutralizing capacitor C may be provided in' the embodiment given by way of example. Naturally, it also is possible to use other neutralizing elements to suppress the feedback oscillations. A charging impedance l2fmay be connected at one end 11 to the positive pole of the source U of dc. voltage and at the other end 10 to the base electrode of the transistor T t c The coil arrangement comprising coils L, and L is preferably fixedly disposed while a permanent magnet system provided on the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator is moved relative to the coils. The magnet system moved by theclockwork mechanism regulatoroscillator basically can be of any type. Preferably a magnet system having two, air gaps is used, which receive the sides of the coils in the rest position of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator and which are permeated by the magnetic fluxes oppositely and perpendicularly to the plane of the coil.

The method of operation of such a driving circuit arrangement is known per se. Note that the capacitor C is charged by way of the impedance 12 as a result of which the base electrode of the main transistor T is positively biasedfso that a base-to-collector current flows. Even very small control voltages in control coil L are sufficient to alter the base-to-collector current of the transistor T; as a result of whichthe clockwork mechanism regulator oscillator will obtain driving impulses. With an increasing oscillation amplitude, the voltage induced in control coil L becomes higher and gradually capacitor C is changed in its charge via the base-emitter circuit of the transistor T, as a result of which the bias of the base electrode ischanged.

circuit a regulating coil which, as in the case of the emshown)'is produced in the r'egulatingcoil L, which reaches the input threshold voltage of the regulating transistor T so that the latter is put into a conductive state at, for example, 200 in the case of watches that can be worn. As a result'of this, the capacitor C is partly or wholly discharged andthus the bias voltage of the base electrode of the transistor T, is influenced.

- Where the control coil L is used to control both the main transistor T and regulating transistor T,, a polarity of the a.c. voltage produced in the controlcoil may be used for control of the'main transistor T, and the oppositely polarity voltage used for control of the regulator transistor T i.e., control transistor T is blocked,- for example, whenever main transistor T is triggered and vice versa.

A constant current circuit 12 may be connected between the d.c. source U of the supply voltage and the capacitor C, by means of which the capacitor C charging current is kept essentially constant independently of the voltage of the source U so that changes of the bias voltage of the transistor T, as a result of the aging of the battery U are eliminated to a certain extent.

The circuit of the constant current device 12 connected between points 10 and 11 may be of any kind so long as the charging current is kept mostly constant. For example, a constant current network can be used as shown in FIG. 2. This network may contain two transistors T T a resistor R connecting the base electrodes of the transistors, resistors R, and R, in the emitter electrode circuits and diodes D and D connected in series in the collector electrode circuits.

The constant current circuit 10 is preferably formed by the circuit shown in FIG. 3 with a field effect transistor l5 and a resistor R disks'21 and 22 are made of magnetically conductive The circuit of the invention can be used in the case i tions.

With reference tov F I68. 4 and 5, the reference number 20 designates the shaft of a clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator in the form of a balance wheel and material. Permanent bar magnets 23-26 are provided. The spiral spring 27 for the balance wheel is attached at 2'8 and the coils L and L may be those schematically shown inthe circuit of FIG. 1. The present invention may beembodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes whichcome within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended-to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a circuit for the drive of a regulator-oscillator of a time-keeping device'with an electronic amplifiercontrolled by a voltage produced by a relative movement between a magnet system and a control element which delivers current impulses acting through a driving elementin a driving manner on the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator, the improvement comprising a'constant current device connected to the power supply of the amplifier and including a regulating amplifier controlled in dependence on the amplitude of the clockwork mechanism regulatoroscillator for the purpose of influencing thev bias voltage of the amplifier. v

'2. The circuit according to claim 1 wherein the constant current device includes a transistor.

3. The circuit according to claim 2 wherein the transistor is a field effect transistor.

4. The circuit according to claim 1 wherein a capacitor is connected in series with a control coil for production of the bias voltage.

5. The circuit according to claim 4 including a regulating amplifier controlled in dependence on the amplitude of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator for the purpose of influencing the bias voltage.

6. The circuit according to claim 5 wherein the control-element and the driving element are induction coils and wherein one of said coils is in the circuit of the main amplifier and the regulating amplifier.

7. The circuit according to claim 6 wherein both the control coil and the driving coil of the main amplifier are in the input circuit of the regulating amplifier.

- 8. The circuit according to claim 5 including a connecting element responsive to a magnetic field for influencing the amplitude of oscillations.

9. The circuit according to claim 1 including a connecting element responsive to a magnetic field for influencing the amplitude of oscillations.

clockwork mechanism 

1. In a circuit for the drive of a clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator of a time-keeping device with an electronic amplifier controlled by a voltage produced by a relative movement between a magnet system and a control element which delivers current impulses acting through a driving element in a driving manner on the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator, the improvement comprising a constant current device connected to the power supply of the amplifier and including a regulating amplifier controlled in dependence on the amplitude of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator for the purpose of influencing the bias voltage of the amplifier.
 2. The circuit according to claim 1 wherein the constant current device includes a transistor.
 3. The circuit according to claim 2 wherein the transistor is a field effect transistor.
 4. The circuit according to claim 1 wherein a capacitor is connected in series with a control coil for production of the bias voltage.
 5. The circuit according to claim 4 including a regulating amplifier controlled in dependence on the amplitude of the clockwork mechanism regulator-oscillator for the purpose of influencing the bias voltage.
 6. The circuit according to claim 5 wherein the control element and the driving element are induction coils and wherein one of said coils is in the circuit of the main amplifier and the regulating amplifier.
 7. The circuit according to claim 6 wherein both the control coil and the driving coil of the main amplifier are in the input circuit of the regulating amplifier.
 8. The circuit according to claim 5 including a connecting element responsive to a magnetic field for influencing the amplitude of oscillations.
 9. The circuit according to claim 1 including a connecting element responsive to a magnetic field for influencing the amplitude of oscillations. 